26
Einar
My heart pounded in my chest as Adara stared up at me, the shock in her cornflower blue eyes mirroring my own.
I hadn’t intended to say yes when she asked me to dance with her. Just walking arm in arm with Adara, the curve of her breast lightly brushing against my arm, her beguiling scent wrapping its tendrils around my heart, was torturous enough. Taking her into my arms for a dance wasn’t just tempting, it was downright dangerous.
But when I’d seen the hurt look in her eyes as she’d turned away, I hadn’t been able to say no. I could feel the fear and anxiety coming off her in waves, and my inner beast demanded I do something, anything, to soothe her.
When Adara didn’t try to pull out of my grasp, I slid my hand down her wrist and laced my fingers with hers. The gesture was somehow more intimate than anything we’d done so far, and my heart tripped when she gently squeezed my hand.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I said nothing as I led her onto the dance floor, joining the other guests as they moved to the rhythm of the music. The lively music dancing through the air changed to something softer, slower, and I sighed a little. This would have been easier if I could have twirled her around, keeping her at arm’s length and moving fast enough that my gaze wouldn’t have time to linger on her.
Instead, I settled my free hand at her waist, and brought our interlaced fingers up so I could lead her into the slow, rhythmic dance. Her left hand settled on my shoulder, and she gazed at a point just beyond it as we moved. Her body was stiff beneath my hands, her eyes crowded with far too many thoughts, and I could feel the tension coiled in her back.
“Relax,” I murmured, gently caressing her lower back with my thumb. Her sharp intake of breath made my inner beast lift its head, but I did my best to keep my thoughts focused on Adara, and what she needed. “Breathe, and let those thoughts go. Just for a moment.”
I felt, rather than heard, her slow exhale, and her body relaxed incrementally. The pace of the song picked up a bit, and she relaxed further as we moved faster, gliding effortlessly between the other couples on the dance floor.
“You’re a good dancer,” Adara said, her gaze still not on me. I wished she would look at me, but I knew she was scanning the crowd, searching for the Oracle. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
I smirked. “You might think I’m a mere dragon brute, but I was a member of high society within my race,” I murmured in Adara’s ear. I allowed the barest brush of my lips against her earlobe, and my inner beast rumbled with satisfaction when she shivered in my arms. “I assure you I am more than capable of rubbing elbows with the hoitiest of the toitiest.”
A surprised laugh burst from Adara’s lips, and a grin tug at my lips at the bright sound, like golden champagne bubbles dancing in a freshly-poured flute. Her eyes sparkled as she met my gaze, and that tender feeling inside me spread just a little more, testing the cracks in my armored heart.
Unable to resist, I pulled her in a little closer and ran my hand up her spine. My lips dropped to her shoulder, and I let them hover over her skin as I inhaled her addictive scent. Images of a sparkling ocean, of holding hands on a sandy beach as the surf crashed over our toes, danced in my mind, and suddenly I wished things were different. That I could take her to this place, wherever it was, and make her body sing for me beneath that starry, moonlit shore.
I’m falling in love with her,I realized dimly. Despite my better judgment, despite fighting the mating bond tooth and nail. I was falling in love with a fae.
Why didn’t that terrify me?
“Einar,” Adara said. Her voice was a throaty murmur, and I lifted my head to see a flush staining her pale, delicate cheeks. It faded into a pink glow that crept down her neck and over the expanse of skin exposed by the v-cut of her gown, and I wanted to follow it with my tongue, to see what secrets might be hiding beneath that shimmering silver-blue fabric. “I—”
“Hey.” A tug at my sleeve broke the spell between us, and I turned my head to scowl at Leap, who’d appeared at my elbow. “It’s showtime.”
He jerked his head toward the entrance, and I followed his gaze to a heavy-set fae gliding through the crowd. She wore an off the shoulder gown that made the most of an admittedly impressive bust, but with wide, multi-tiered skirts that made her look like a badly layered cake. Her silver hair was piled atop her head and threaded with gaudy jewels that matched the heavy gold necklace resting on her chest, and dangling from her wrist was a silver fan with a deep blue gemstone set into the handle.
Madame Gale had arrived.
“It’s all right,” Adara said, drawing my gaze back to her. Sadness filled her blue eyes, making me want to tug her closer, but she pulled out of my grasp. “I need to look for the Oracle, anyway. Good luck, you two… and thanks for the dance.”
She drifted away, and I cursed under my breath, torn between the desire to follow and the need to let her go. I wanted to know what she’d been about to say, if she’d been thinking the same thing I had been, which was obviously a clear mark of my insanity.
It shouldn’t matter to me what she thought, what she wanted. These ridiculous feelings were clouding my judgment, skewing my priorities. Shoving away all thoughts of Adara, I put on my most disarming smile, and made my way through the crowd toward the aging dame. There was only one female I was supposed to charm tonight, and I had a feeling she smelled nothing like moonlit beaches or lavender dreams.
27
Adara
“Well, that definitely wasn’t the Oracle,” Mavlyn said as we walked away from yet another white-haired female. “I was ready to stab my eyes out listening to her talk about the difficulties of importing fresh seafood for her cocktail parties.”
I sighed a little as I scanned the crowd, looking for another fae who might fit the description. “Maybe the Oracle is a boring person,” I said. With the masks on, it was hard to tell if any of them had the star-shaped birthmark Leap mentioned, but there were a number of curly haired fae among the guests.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mavlyn said. “There’s no way someone who can see the future would be that boring to talk to. And the way Leap described her, she sounds like the type who might even enjoy causing a little mischief. I could see her toying with guests, pretending she doesn’t know their little secrets and leading them into all kinds of conversational pitfalls.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you’re really looking forward to meeting her,” I said.
